1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and particularly to a shielded electrical connector with a grounding element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shielded electrical connectors are used more and more widely with the increasing development of information technology. Many electrical connectors have grounding elements for electrically connecting a grounded shield thereof to a shielding device enclosure panel or to a mating complementary connector for increasing the quality of signal transmission. Conventional grounding elements of electrical connectors are usually attached to the electrical connector using screws and nuts, which increases the number of parts used in assembling the electrical connector and which increases the volume of the electrical connector. Other electrical connectors have grounding elements which are retained by an insulative housing of the electrical connector, resulting in a complicated design for the insulative housing and increasing the volume of the insulative housing, in turn increasing the volume of the electrical connector. Increasing of the volume of an electrical connector runs counter to the trend toward lighter, thinner, shorter and smaller electrical connectors.
Therefore, an electrical connector with an improved grounding element is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.